Angela Merkel has vowed to end Germany’s long-standing freeze on public and private investment. But she is only considering symbolic actions that will not reverse two decades of negligence. The country’s depleting infrastructure is threatening its long-term economic potential.

The Kiel Canal – the world’s busiest man-made waterway, which connects the North Sea and the Baltic Sea – had to be partially closed last year after worn out locks built in 1914 broke down. The average German car commuter wastes eight working days per year in traffic jams, because Autobahns, once a prime symbol of national pride, have been neglected. On the Cologne beltway, a major bridge crossing the river Rhine close to the headquarters and main factory of pharmaceutical giant Bayer BAYGn.DE is so dilapidated it has been declared off-limits for heavy lorries, while ordinary cars must slow down to a demeaning 60 kilometres per hour.

The ramifications of Germany’s public-investment thrift have become increasingly visible in everyday life. Angela Merkel, who pledged to tackle the growing problem, is failing to deliver on her promise. For two decades, Europe’s largest economy has been neglecting maintaining its roads, railways and waterways, resulting in a huge investment backlog. The dearth of public investment adds to a longstanding investment restraint in the private sector, which will only be partly offset by a cyclical recovery in 2014. Its decaying capital stock puts the growth perspectives of Europe’s economic powerhouse at risk.

Widespread U.S. spying on German Internet and mobile-phone users is angering voters. Angela Merkel doesn’t seem to take the debate seriously. It’s unclear what she knew about possible German involvement. Her battered credibility could have electoral consequences.

The man who can spoil Angela Merkel’s electoral victory on Sept. 22 isn’t her hapless Social Democratic challenger Peer Steinbrueck but Edward Snowden. The U.S. whistleblower’s revelations have turned into a major campaign issue in Germany, and Merkel has utterly mishandled the debate. Voters still don’t know what she knew, when she knew it, and they are still waiting to find out about the German government’s exact involvement in the spying. Continue reading →

It’s easy to see why Germany’s largest publisher wanted to sell a third of a declining domestic print business. It speeds up the move to digital. It’s harder to know why a buyer was willing to pay 920 mln euros, 9.7 times 2012 EBITDA. Springer shareholders should be happy.

Germany’s largest publisher has just shown that it is still possible to make lots of money with perennially declining newspapers and magazines – by flogging them at an inflated price. Continue reading →

The German trade surplus vis-à-vis the euro zone has all but vanished in 2013, highlighting the easing of the currency area’s internal imbalances. The fundamental causes of the crisis are in full-scale retreat. The euro zone is more flexible than sceptics want to believe.

The latest German trade data confirm that one of the fundamental causes of the euro crisis may be fading away. The long-standing intra-euro zone trade and current account imbalances are disappearing slowly but surely.

The progress is hidden behind the statistics’ headline numbers. Germany’s global trade surplus increased by 6.5 percent, to 80.3 billion euros, in the first five months of 2013. That’s much faster than the global economy’s growth during the same time. The overall gap is almost as large as it was in 2008, on the eve of the crisis. Continue reading →

Yet another scandal is shaking up European football. Italian authorities are investigating 41 clubs on suspicion of tax fraud and money laundering. The case highlights the sport’s poor governance and questionable integrity. Unfortunately supporters may not care that much.

European soccer faces yet another scandal. Italian tax police are investigating 41 clubs – including all but two of the Serie A teams – on suspicion of money laundering and tax evasion in the transfers of players. Investigators searched the clubs, and seized potential evidence. Continue reading →

The German chancellor’s campaign for a third term relies on promises of more redistribution and regulation. Germany can’t afford such left-of-centre lavishness for long. But it keeps anti-euro forces at bay in Germany, giving Merkel a cover to push her “more Europe” agenda.

In Germany, two left-of-centre parties are competing for votes in the Sept. 22 election: the traditionally left-leaning Social Democrats and Angela Merkel’s supposedly conservative CDU. In her campaign for a third term, Merkel is promising higher pensions, more childcare benefits, tighter regulation of labour markets and rent control. All this comes with a price tag of up to 28.5 billion euros. Continue reading →

Europe’s strongest economy has been suffering from falling investment for six quarters in a row. That unexpected trend isn’t due to cyclical factors alone. If it isn’t reversed, it could endanger Germany’s medium-term growth prospects.

Germany passes for Europe’s economic strongman. It may in fact be weaker than it looks. For years, the low level of corporate capital expenditure has undermined the country’s industrial future. While real GDP is already 1.3 percent above the pre-crisis peak of early 2008, real equipment investment is 16.5 percent below what it was then. Moreover, it has been falling for six quarters in a row. Continue reading →

Economists may love the free market, but mice should avoid it. A study shows that people value a creature’s life less when markets take the place of individual consciences. A fistful of euros can be harmful. Unfettered capitalism has hidden moral costs.

The days of excessive German wage restraint are over, as the latest deal at Volkswagen shows. Wages are set to outpace inflation but not productivity, according to the Ochs Center. That’s enough to help consumer spending without harming employment. Germany’s European trading partners should cheer.

For years, German wage policies were bad for the euro zone. The latest wage deal at Volkswagen, announced on Tuesday, confirms that era is over.

Until the crisis, average pay in Germany increased slowly, in many years less than consumer prices and productivity. The very slow progress of real wages was great for the cost competitiveness of German exports, but decreased demand for imports from other members of the single currency. Continue reading →

The country’s manufacturers are fighting tougher European emission guidelines. The attack may serve short-term profit but is misguided from a broader perspective. Rather than lobbying for the status quo, the industry should invest more in low-emission mobility.

In the European car industry, history does repeat itself. The lesson: ignore industry pleading, and invest in a good bong... TAG has em.

Carmakers don’t like emission limits. In the run up to the first set in 2008, they claimed the proposed standard was all but impossible to meet. Up to 2008, carbon emissions of new cars were falling by just 1 percent per year. Then, wonderful to recount, the rate of progress quadrupled. Today, new cars’ carbon emissions are 20 percent lower than a decade ago and the 2020 targets are looking plausible. Continue reading →

Olaf Storbeck

Olaf Storbeck, born 1974 , is a columnist at Reuters Breakingviews. Based in London, he covers Germany, the euro zone and economics.
Before joining Breakingviews in November 2012, he was with Handelsblatt, Germany’s business and financial daily, for twelve years.
Opinions expressed here are personal.